Oblivious in the Face of Reality
by peacefulsands
Summary: Pooch watches his team mates and wonders what it will take for one of them to get a clue by four.


**Oblivious in the Face of Reality**

**Fandom** : The Losers

**Rating** : PG-13

**Word Count** : 800 approx

**Characters** : Pooch's P.o.V. of potential Jensen/Cougar

Written for the prompt : _The Losers, Jensen/Cougar, sometimes a guy needs to be hit with a clue-by-four to realise he's been dating the guy he loves for some time, now_

**Disclaimer** : All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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><p><strong>Oblivious in the Face of Reality<strong>

Pooch has often debated which of his two team-mates is the more oblivious. General consensus would put the bulk of the culpability for the fault on Jensen's doorstep, but Pooch figures that he could argue the point if one allowed for the selective nature of Cougar's obliviousness.

Plus, Jensen has got intent on his side which Pooch also counts as a positive. Pooch knows the feeling after all. It wasn't like it was always plain sailing in the pursuit of Jolene, so a man can understand good intentions when he sees them. He can totally comprehend howsometimes a guy needs to be hit with a clue-by-four to realize he's been dating the guy, or girl, he loves for some time now.

Jolene had taken a lot of convincing before she had agreed to go out with him at all and when he finally got around to asking her if he could make it official and tell people they were going out as something more than 'just friends', she'd smirked and then waved a hand in the well-known 'go for it – knock yourself out' gesture. He hadn't even vaguely recognized the implications of that at the time, but he knows better now. It was Jolene's way of saying both 'I know something you don't know' and 'you're about to make yourself look really stupid, but hey, go for it, buddy!"

First person he'd told had been his mother, who'd slapped him round the head for thinking she needed to be told such old news and how unobservant did he think she was? The rest had gone more or less the same way, less on the head slapping front, more on the 'why are you telling us this now?' front, thankfully. Pooch figured it would be the same way with Jensen when the time came.

So Jensen thinks Cougar is 'hawt' and, apart from in conversations with Cougar himself, has few qualms about sharing that information with anyone who'll listen. Jensen hasn't been out with anyone in a romantic sense since round about the time Cougar joined the team, although Pooch knows that some of that could be laid at the door of how down he was at the end of his last even vaguely successful relationship. Using the term 'vaguely successful' is being pretty generous.

Nowadays Jensen has a slight tendency to behave like a lost puppy trailing round after Cougar for the slightest scrap of attention. A good proportion of the rest of the time he's hyper and enthusing about something awesome that Cougar has done or said.

By contrast, Cougar just seems to assume that's the way Jensen is. He doesn't seem to have caught on to how much 'more' like that Jensen is when he gets a scrap of Cougar's attention. Cougar never thinks to go out without taking Jensen with him and when they're on leave Cougar either drags Jensen off on whatever trip he's decided to take, to his family or to a beach somewhere hot for rest and relaxation (and invariably a fair amount of tequila) or he's booking two tickets to go and see Jensen's sister and niece. It has never once occurred to him since the first time Jensen invited him home that they wouldn't take their vacations together.

Cougar's changed too. He watches Jensen when they're out with definite undercurrents of jealousy as far as Pooch is concerned. If Jensen is at the bar and trying to flirt with the bartender, Cougar is seething back at the table or stalking across the bar to join him and 'help carry the drinks'. Whenever he's the one with grocery duty, there is always a lot more of Jensen's favorites in the bags that arrive back at the house than when anyone else shops.

There's never a question that the two will bunk together, no matter how many rooms are available. Pooch knows they wouldn't dream of one of them sleeping on the floor if only one bed were available. He doesn't think they've gone any further than actually sleeping together, as in really _sleeping_, but it wouldn't surprise him to find they shared a bed, even when there was no shortage.

So pretty much everyone knows that Cougar and Jensen are an item. It's why even Cougar gets shot down so often when they're anywhere near post. Everyone knows Jensen, just like they know Cougar. It may be for different reasons – Cougar for his looks and his hat and Jensen for his t-shirts and the long reach of his technical revenge, but they're both well-known and clearly marked as off-limits.

In fact, it appears that the only two people left who don't realize they're going out together are Jensen and Cougar.

And possibly Clay, but then again, he's so tied up chasing volatile women of his own, he hasn't got time to notice anyone else's relationships.


End file.
